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How to Measure Progress with Physical Therapy  Most people seek services from an orthopedic physical therapist because: (1) they have musculoskeletal pain, and/or (2) they cannot function as well as they need to because of their condition. Physical therapists perform a comprehensive clinical examination in order to diagnose the patient’s condition and to establish an appropriate treatment plan. The examination consists of tests and measures designed to determine what the problem is,...

Protecting Your Spine   One of the most common, immediate causes of low back pain involves injury to the intervertebral disc (IVD). The IVD is a connective tissue structure interposed between 2 spinal vertebrae.  This structure functions to attenuate spinal loading or absorb shock. IVD’s exist throughout the spine, but tend to cause more problems in the lower back compared to other spinal regions. The disc has 2 basic components: the outer annular fibers (annulus fibrosis), and...

Direct Access to Physical Therapy In New York State, like most states, people can access physical therapy services directly without the need for physician referral. There are several advantages to direct access.  There is a growing body of evidence that physical therapy direct access can be part of the solution to the high costs and inefficiencies of our current health care system. First, a more direct route to the physical therapist reduces the time between an injury, or the onset of a p...

Ice vs Heat for Injury Treatment With summer quickly approaching, many of us will be increasing our activity levels. Whether it be playing sports or working around the house, increased activity brings increased risk for injury. Anyone who has experienced an injury of some kind have asked the question whether ice or heat is best to treat these problems. Before choosing ice or heat to treat an ailment, one should know how each treatment works. Ice for instance is a vasoconstrictor, it closes sm...

Importance of Movement in Healing As experts in the movement system, physical therapists treat musculoskeletal injury or pain through active and passive movement strategies. In other words, movement is part of the healing process. In order to understand the role of movement in treating orthopedic conditions, it may be helpful to look at what happens when movement is unnecessarily avoided in response to injury or pain. Fear avoidance is a term used to describe a behavioral response to musculos...